Warner Bros. Studios facing significant COVID outbreak

Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank is reporting a sudden spike in COVID cases as Los Angeles County grapples with its highest weekly average of new cases since last summer’s Delta surge.

As of Tuesday, 43 confirmed cases had been reported to the L.A. County Department of Public Health. The rise in infections comes just one month after the studio began requiring employees to return to the office at least three days a week.

Warner Bros. is not the only studio to see a recent COVID outbreak. On Tuesday, Walt Disney Co. and Fox Sports reported six and 10 new cases, respectively, among their employees. In May, Lionsgate reported 21 new infections.

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The dozens of cases emerging among Hollywood studios — and L.A. County as a whole — come as the county expects to shift into the “high” level on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 community level tracker. As of Wednesday, L.A. County remained at a “medium” level, but that status could change if cases continue to rise.

If the county moves into the high level for two consecutive weeks, it is prepared to reinstate its indoor mask mandate as soon as July 29.

At a meeting of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said the county is experiencing its first jump in COVID-19 deaths since the winter surge.

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“While we’re not seeing anywhere near the devastation this summer that we saw during last winter’s Omicron surge, we are seeing much higher case numbers than we saw during the peak of the Delta surge,” Ferrer said.

The increase in coronavirus infections, particularly at workplaces, has experts concerned. The county is urging employers with three or more COVID cases within a two-week period to consider encouraging employees to work remotely when feasible.